Cool Jeeps You Can't Have - Mahindra of India

[jscherb]

Another PikUp bed style. I spotted this one in Pokhara, Nepal. This one has the newer Bolero-style front clip sheet metal and and extended cab:

Another "covered wagon" topper, also in Pokhara. This one has the same bed as the PikUp above but not the extended cab.

Mahindra did a Maxx version of the PikUp, although it doesn't have the wider cab like the other Maxx. I think it's got additional load carrying capacity over the original PikUp but I'm not 100% sure about that but many of the Maxx pickups do have larger beds/boxes on the back. This one does have a custom bed/cage, apparently for live poultry.

Another one. I wonder if roof racks like these would be popular with the Gladiator crowd?

 

[jscherb]

A Mahindra brochure showing many PikUp variants. "Jo chaho ban jaye" translates to "What ever you want will happen."

I don't quite understand why the one in the center of the last column is called a "camping van", it's a pickup with a rack over the bed. I've never seen a roof top tent in India so I don't know what the connection of this version to camping is.

Mahindra sells a lot of cab-only PikUps; there's a healthy aftermarket in India for PikUp beds/boxes, etc., most of which are built by fairly small fab shops as I showed a few days ago. Most of the variants in the image above are aftermarket.

 

[jscherb]

If you order a new Mahindra PikUp from the factory without a bed, here's what you get. This one is on the way from the factory to its new owner, it was part of a convoy of 3 I spotted near Chandigarh. Nice platform for building a camper or whatever you can dream up. Jo chaho ban jaye

This one has the current model Bolero front end sheet metal.

This is the current style Bolero PikUp, notice the front clip is not CJ-style. A factory photo:

Indian curiosity: Chandigarh, which is where I spotted the cab-only pickup in the first photo, is the capital of two different states - Punjab and Haryana. It's that way because Punjab and Haryana were one state when Chandigarh was built - it's a purpose-built city to be the capital of the Punjab, completed in the late 1950's. The state was split in two in 1966 but both states kept their capital there.

 

[jscherb]

If you came up behind this on the road, what would you think it is?

Overtaking you can see it's a Mahinrda PikUp:

From the front:

It's a load of straw and it's a common sight in some parts of India. Here's another PikUp:

The one above was making its way through a village in Rajasthan. In the photo it's on a slight hill and whenever the driver stepped on the gas one of the front wheels would come off the ground. BTW the vehicle at the left is a Mahindra Bolero, which is a newer version of the Commander with the same front clip sheet metal that the PikUp in the photo has.

Just in case you were wondering why many of the pickups in the photos I've posted seem to have led a rough life .

I always have a camera at the ready while on the road in India, you never know what you'll see.

 

[cj-10]

Have you seen the Mahindra Armada double cabs over there? I would love to start importing all types of the Mahindra's you have featured.

 

[jscherb]

Have you seen the Mahindra Armada double cabs over there? I would love to start importing all types of the Mahindra's you have featured.

Yes. They went under several different names over time - first there was the Utiliti, a double cab with a CJ-style front clip. Then came the Bolero Camper (why they called it a camper I don't know, it's just a pickup), which was the same thing with the Bolero front clip sheet metal.

I've got photos of all of them and brochures and I'll get to them soon. I've got a few more PikUp items to post and then I'll move on to a different model.

 

[Yuke]

It would be good to see somebody import these. I wonder if it's been done before?

 

[jscherb]

It would be good to see somebody import these. I wonder if it's been done before?

I have never seen a Mahindra in this country, other than Roxors, which are assembled here, and tractors of course Mahindra is the largest tractor manufacturer in the world by unit volume. That doesn't mean there aren't any Mahindra jeeps here, but I doubt there are many, if any.

Some Mahindras were sold in Europe - when I lived in London for two years it wasn't uncommon to see CJ3b variants there. Mahindra also offered a model they called a CJ5 there, but it had pretty much nothing to do with the U.S. CJ5, it was a variant of the MM540/550, which was a development of the CJ3b. These are some UK flyers...

As far as I know, those are the only two Mahindra jeep models sold in the UK and Europe.

Other models were sold in Africa, and most models were sold in other South Asian countries like Nepal.

 

[Paddler Ed]

We get the Mahindra PikUp here in Australia, they're quite popular with the older farmers around here who don't want to spent Land Cruiser money.

 

[jscherb]

We get the Mahindra PikUp here in Australia, they're quite popular with the older farmers around here who don't want to spent Land Cruiser money.

The Mahindra TR20/TR40 (TR20 pictured below) went to a bunch of countries including Australia about 15 years ago. In 2009, it was announced that the truck would be sold in the U.S. and called the Appalachian. It was to be done in collaboration with a partner company in the U.S., not directly by Mahindra, but the deal fell through and it didn't happen. Apparently Mahindra didn't consider the deal with the potential partner (Global Vehicles USA) to be final and was negotiating with another company to do US certification testing for the truck. That led to disagreements between Mahindra and Global; that deal fell apart, and Mahindra decided not to enter the U.S. automotive market at that time.

 

[kayadog]

I saw this on Bring a Trailer awhile ago.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1979-mahindra-cj500dp/

 

[jscherb]

I saw this on Bring a Trailer awhile ago.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1979-mahindra-cj500dp/

Maybe there's money to be made importing them - that one new would have sold for 3.35 lakh rupees in India (about $4500), so it sold for twice its original price in that listing .

 

[billiebob]

no one recycles plastic better than India.
the best part is watching it being loaded.


What I love about India are the gardens and water. Massive gardens perfectly level. We do nothing as beautiful.

 

[jscherb]

Since you didn't tell anyone what that is, I will... it's Humayan's Tomb in Delhi, built in the 1500s. Humayan was a Mughal emperor of India, Mughals being Muslims who invaded India and ruled the northern half of India until they were displaced by the British. There are many examples of Mughal architecture across India, the most famous being the Taj Mahal in Agra (about 200km south of Delhi).

 

[billiebob]

yes, what a great day, no idea where the kid came from who photo bombed us but what a great day.



I've seen many countries thru Rotary, someone asked,
If you had to leave Canada, where would you go
I said India. Incredible India.